complications
by thir13enth
Summary: Zuko asks the girl of his dreams out for a date, but he was not prepared for the trouble-filled night! Zutara, for the week.


**Oh my god! I'm totally late—because I left my laptop charger at work! I have a completely legitimate excuse for being late by a day! But hey! I updated **_**Pocket Deep **_**yesterday**_**, **_**which is Zutara itself, so don't kill me yet! And as for day five's Zutara piece—since this one is delayed and because I was too much of a procrastinator to start writing for Zutara Week **_**before **_**this week, that will probably be late as well :(. Vicious cycle continues.**

**Moral lesson? Don't leave your charger **_**anywhere**_**. Always keep that shit on you!**

**Anyway, sigh, day four of Zutara Week…I'm practically halfway there: whimsical, is the theme for this day. **

**Well…without further ado, enjoy yourselves! And watch out! Tons of fluff!**

* * *

Her reply made his day.

"She said 'yes,' fuckers!" he told his bros when they asked him where his normally angsty self had gone. "She said that she'd go out with me!"

After some congratulations, especially after he had been talking about pursuing her for so long, his friends gave him a round of tips and suggestions, all wishing him luck for the day of.

Which was tomorrow.

_Awww yeah_, he thought to himself.

**divider**

_Aw shit!_, he thought to himself, checking the time.

He had said that he'd pick her up from her house at 7, but now it was 17 minutes past and he still wasn't there, stuck in the last bits of rush hour traffic. He sweat bullets, trying to ignore what she'd be thinking of him.

In fact, his phone was on the passenger seat, and he couldn't muster the courage to let her know.

Directing his attention back onto the road, he weaved back and forth between lanes, ignoring the angry honks that he got from his rude and rather risky passing. Tonight was not the night to screw up his driving—the last thing he needed was to total this car.

Once he reached the exit to her home, he accelerated, only to find himself blocked by a red light. Frustrated, he later ran four more yellow lights on his way to his destination.

Twenty-four minutes past the time that he had said he'd pick her up, and he was at the door of her home. Bad news was that he didn't see her—and he hoped to hell that he had actually gotten to the right address and also that she wasn't just pranking him.

Oh, and also that she wasn't totally pissed off that he got there practically a half an hour late.

He shuddered, remembering the last time that Chan was late for a date with Azula. She had completely ridiculed him the rest of the time while leaving herself unscathed.

"He deserved it," Azula had explained, looking down at her nails.

He hoped to hell that he wasn't going to pay karmically for his tardiness in the same way.

But she wasn't that kind of a person…right?

Taking his phone in his right hand, he quickly pressed the call button to get in touch with his dream girl, waiting anxiously at the ring tone that followed after. A click from the other end of the line, and he held his breath before speaking.

"Hey," he said, stupidly.

"Hi Zuko," she replied, and he tried to read into her voice—was that annoyance?

He cursed himself while answering, "Hey, I, um…sorry I'm late. I'm at your house now…yeah."

"Oh I see you," she said, and then he saw the door to her house open, before she quickly strode over to his car. He melted looking at her—she was so beautiful, it was beyond belief, but now she had totally made herself up. Instead of wearing her typical jeans and t-shirt, she now had a collared shirt and a cute print skirt that reached her knees. Her hair was down, her thick dark locks further defining the sculpture of her gorgeous face.

To see her running towards him, a smile over her lips—not to mention a little perky bounce of her chest—blew his mind. This was his crush since the beginning of high school, and now he totally had a chance with her!

She opened the door to the passenger seat and got in, sitting down.

"Oh sorry," he said, grabbing the wallet off the passenger seat before realizing that she had already practically sat down, her ass brushing the back of his hand. Flustered, he blushed and apologized multiple times.

Not saying a word, she sat down and buckled herself into his car.

"I'm sorry about being late too," he said hesitantly, pulling back the gear stick and releasing his foot on the brake. He hoped she wasn't too upset.

"It's okay! Stop apologizing! Don't worry about it!" she laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Just relax—it's totally cool."

"…Really?"

She looked out the window on her side and laughed again. "Yeah, it's fine. I'm not mad or anything."

He almost crashed into the car in front of him when hearing that, relief soaring through his veins.

"So, uh, how are you?" he asked, his breath fluttering. God, he hated when he did that—why couldn't he just take this date cool and chill? He told himself to be normal. The mission today was to get her to like him, and hopefully be able to take her out on another date, and then eventually…

Nah, he couldn't think that far ahead just yet.

"I'm doing fine," she replied. "What about you?"

And then he realized what a stupid conversation he had just started.

"Just the same," he answered. And then he added, "Um…you mentioned that you really liked seaweed noodles. I know an awesome joint downtown."

"Oh." And he thought that he heard disappointment in her voice.

"I mean, I'm fine with anything—whatever you feel like," he corrected himself.

"No, it's fine," she recovered. "I was just surprised you remembered."

Ah, but he guessed that she wouldn't know just how much she was on his mind. But he couldn't say that, otherwise that would totally sound like he was creeping on her. Actually, _did _she think that of him right now? She _did _say that she didn't expect him to remember that she loved seaweed noodles from that small conversation they had back last month when they were working on the same group project.

He wasn't sure what to think at the moment, and it suddenly occurred to him that if she was to accept his date invitation, that that must have meant that maybe she liked him too?

So maybe it was _good _that she noticed that he remembered. And in fact, if she remembered that she had told him that she liked seaweed noodles, than maybe he was on her mind more than he gave himself credit for.

Wait, he couldn't get ahead of himself again.

"Okay," he said. "Is it okay if we grab some dinner there?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

_Alright, awesome_, he thought. This was going well. It could have definitely been worse.

**divider**

Had he said it could have definitely gotten worse?

_Damn it, _he thought, knowing that he had jinxed himself, as they walked by the restaurant that he had planned to come to—only to find that it was closed for an extended weekend due to a family vacation.

Man, and he had already paid for the parking.

"Oh, it's closed," she remarked, seeing the blinking sign.

He shuffled his feet. "Yeah, sorry about that."

She smiled back up at him. "No worries; we'll just find another place to eat at down the street. I'm sure there's a lot of places here downtown."

"Yeah, I guess," Zuko agreed.

Walking with his hands in his pocket, his face facing the sidewalk in guilty shame, he looked like a dismayed panda.

_Whatever a dismayed panda looked like, _he thought, quickly calculating his success for the date. Already, he was down two points: one, he was late. And two, his plans for the restaurant were foiled. The night had barely begun and he had failed…epically.

"I should have looked into the place before coming here," he said sheepishly.

"Nah, you wouldn't have known—I mean, you just asked me out the other day," she countered, forgiving him.

Zuko was afraid that she was intentionally being nice to not hurt his feelings. He mentally groaned, face-palming himself twenty times over. To make up for it, he decided that a little conversation would probably serve well.

"So…" he commenced. "Do you have any siblings?" He subsequently cursed himself for being so boring.

"I have an older brother, name's Sokka. He's in college right now." She didn't seem put off, her ocean eyes sparkling as she mentioned her brother.

"Oh? What college? Far from home, I bet?"

She laughed. "Actually no. He's at Republic City University—not too far from where we live."

"That's pretty awesome. Are you planning to go there as well?"

"Yeah, actually. It's a good school and I love this city a little bit too much."

He gave her a chuckle. "Well RCU is definitely prestigious."

"Mhm," she replied wistfully. "I'll have to work my ass off for the rest of this year and senior year." Then she looked over at him. "Are you planning to apply for RCU?"

"Well, yeah, it's definitely on my list," he answered. Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that the two of them might end up going to the same college—oh, he better make this an awesome date. No pressure though…right?

"I'm sure you can get in—you're smart."

Stricken by the compliment, he almost tripped over himself. "Oh, well, we'll see."

"What about you? Do you have siblings?"

"I have a younger sister," he responded, happy that she had continued his thread.

"Oh, what's that like?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. A cute smile stretched across her lips and he found it hard to concentrate on a decent answer. "I mean, I'm just wondering because I'm a younger sister myself."

"It's fun, I guess," he admitted. "Better than being an only child." He thought a moment and then added, "Azula's her own thing—she's really irritating and egoistic and always gets me in trouble…but if she were gone, I don't think I'd be complete. Actually, I can't even believe I just said that."

She didn't answer, smiling to herself.

"And…I'm kinda protective of her but I'd never let her know that because then she'll just take advantage of me," he continued. "But I'm sure you would know about that."

Katara chuckled, musically and upon hearing it, Zuko made it his mission to make her laugh as much as possible for the rest of the night in order to hear that beautiful tinkling melody.

"Yeah, actually," she explained. "My brother was worried that you'd be an asshole and he was totally going off on you since you were sorta late."

Damn, he knew he wasn't going to get away with his tardiness forever.

Fortunately, he was able to change the subject. "Oh here's a place to eat."

She nodded, agreeing. "Sounds good."

"I mean, only if you want to go—I want to eat somewhere that you'll like," he clarified.

"This is totally fine—I really don't care," she assured, heading over.

He struggled to reach the handle before her so that he could open the door like a gentleman but he missed a gait and she got to the door before he could, pulling it open and then propping it open with her hand for him while she stepped halfway in. He sighed at his lack of chivalry. Unacceptable.

He didn't know what this place was called, having not looked at the sign before coming in, but the interior looked spectacular.

"Table for two, please," Katara said, taking Zuko's lines.

"Right this way," the waiter replied, as Zuko scolded himself. "Is something wrong, sir?"

The teenage boy reconfigured himself, hoping that his date hadn't caught him in a bad expression. "Uh no, everything's alright."

**divider**

Everything was alright…except for the menu.

He suddenly realized why the restaurant was named Exotica.

"Here's your kiwiburger, sir, with angel hair fries," said the waiter, bringing down a plate of completely unfamiliar looking foods, which Zuko thanked him for, rather nervously.

"And your tuna pie with banana peel slaw, madame."

The two dishes were more appetizing sounding than some of the other items—and even then, the two of them still looked at their dishes with vague ignorance of how to properly eat the food on their plates.

Zuko chose to start with the thin crisp looking yellow fries, of which he still wasn't sure what was contained in it. It was a bit more delicate than he was expecting and he dropped a few onto his lap.

Crap—so much for eating properly.

"And Chan was so…careless with his food," Azula had reported. "It totally turned me off. I can't imagine how he treats the people he apparently cares about if he's dropping his nourishment all over the place."

Trying to cover his slip-up as best as possible, he brushed the stuff off his pants and onto the floor, making sure to do so with a single swipe of his hand after discreetly wiping that subsequently on the folded cloth napkin by his plate.

"Well…this out to be interesting," he commented, reaching for the bun of the supposed kiwiburger, now. Were those grains of rice integrated into the bread?

"Let me try some of your…fries?" Katara asked him, holding a fork over her seemingly inedible salad.

He nodded and she went ahead to pick a few angel hairs off his plate. After tasting them and crunching them around in her mouth, she gave it a 'not bad' look and then stuck the remaining into her tuna pie, intentionally sticking the fries in places that made the pie look like an alien's face.

Zuko looked up at her mischievous face and then sculptfully bit his odd tasting kiwiburger and balancing two olives on the top before taking her slaw and draping it over the bun, afterward pulling the tomato out of the burger to create a face with messy hair, olive eyes, and a protruding tongue.

She cocked her head playfully and looked down at her own plate to gather creativity.

And the food sculpting competition was on.

A good time later, barely able to contain his laughter, he suggested, "Should we just call for the check?"

She nodded, covering her own mouth and looking around at the other restaurant customers, all of which were watching the two of them weirdly.

They were still stifling laughter even as the waiter returned with the receipt, and Zuko opened the receipt book, before guffawing at the price, his eyes widening at the horrific numbers. He quickly hid it however, forcing a few more laughs before reaching into his back pocket for his wallet, praying that he actually had more money than he remembered having.

To his misfortune, he found a what now seemed measly twenty-dollar-bill and a couple of singles.

Definitely not enough to cover the 38 dollar meal with tip.

He checked his wallet again for his debit—oh, it seemed Azula had gone ahead and 'borrowed' it for the time being.

Shit…now he was going to have to ask Katara for money? He grimaced to himself—oh this date was just getting worse and worse. In fact, this date probably could go in the list for universe's worst dates already as it is! He was late, the restaurant was horrible, and he didn't have the money to pay for the both of them.

"Um…sorry about this—this is totally awkward," Zuko said. "But I was wondering if you had any money on you?"

Katara raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you need help paying?" And her hand quickly reached into her purse. "I can pay for my meal at least," she declared, whipping out her wallet while reaching over for the receipt. "Oh wow…pricey—I'm surprised I didn't notice that from the beginning."

"Ha ha, yeah," he agreed. "I can pay for tip though." And then he apologized again. "Sorry about that—I was going to cover everything but uh…I guess I didn't have enough money and my sister sorta took my debit card."

"It's totally fine," she said. "Money's not a big deal."

"I-I'll pay you back when I see you next week," he stated.

"No, don't worry about it. You don't have to pay for me."

He opened his mouth to insist but decided that he should just keep his mouth shut and pay her back later when she couldn't decline the money.

Oh, how embarrassing. He was taking her out and he couldn't even pay for her!

He made a mental note to always check his wallet before going out, and also to keep his money out of Azula's reach.

They lay the money down and waited for someone to pick it up, and in the meantime, Zuko checked the time very quickly. It was close to 9pm.

Well, if there was one thing that was going well, it was the time—he had picked her up at 7:30 and so they had technically gone out for about an hour and a half—which was much better than just a simple lame half-hour. At least time-wise he was doing great, so she wouldn't have to report to her best friends that her date on Friday was so bad and barely last an hour.

Or maybe that was a bad thing that it lasted for more than an hour—because then it would have been a _long _bad date.

_Urgh, this dating stuff was too complicated_, he concluded. He wished he hadn't completely tripped in love for Katara.

Totally worth it though—she was just amazing.

"So what time do you have to get home?" he asked her, casually.

She held her face in both hands, elbows resting on the table. "Oh, as long as I'm home at a decent time, it's alright."

Ah, was that an invitation to make this date longer? She could have, after all, lied and said that she had to get back as soon as possible.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Maybe you want to go to take a walk? There's a lot of pretty sights to see around here in the nighttime," he suggested.

"Oh okay, that sounds great!" she exclaimed, and he hoped that the enthusiasm wasn't fake. "I don't know downtown too well…what places were you thinking?"

"There's actually a lot of well-lit fountains around in the park…I don't know if you're that type of person but—"

"That sounds perfect," she interrupted him. "I'd love to."

"Would you like a container to take that home?" the waiter asked the two of them hesistantly, seeing their rather disheveled plates of food.

The two teenagers shared a quick glance, their mouths twisting upwards.

"Well…" Zuko replied, and then dramatically turned towards Katara. "Would _you _like to take your order home?" he asked, even though he knew the obvious answer. He could see her cerulean eyes sprinkled with laughter, even though she discreetly covered her mouth with a final sip of water.

"No, I don't think so," his date said aloud. "What about _you_? Would you want to take this back?"

"That's a no from me as well," he agreed, and then he looked back up at the waiter. "No thank you, sir."

"Alright, sir," and then the waiter acknowledged Katara. "Madame." He gave them a small bow of his head before dismissing them.

"Thank you _so_ much, sir," Zuko concluded. "The food was just _amazing_."

They laughed later once they were out of earshot.

**divider**

The park was just down the street several blocks so Zuko determined it was best to just drive his car down there so that when in the later hours when they were about ready to get home, they wouldn't have had to walk all the way back downtown. And besides, he didn't want to pay more for parking—actually he didn't quite have any more money for parking.

"And then we went surfing after that," she finished.

"Oh, you surf?" he asked.

"Not that well, but I really enjoy riding the waves."

"Yeah totally."

"Do you surf?"

"Uh…to be honest, no."

"So what sort of things do you enjoy doing?" she asked, turning her face towards him. He had to make sure that he kept his eyes on the road, as opposed to her smooth mocha-skinned complexion, which—at least he thought—was a pretty superhuman feat.

"I…" and he was stupefied for the moment. What should he say? His whole answer could totally make or break their…compatibility, or whatever it was that girls were always talking about.

"You know, he was fun and all," he recalled Ty Lee remarking. "But I just don't think that we really clicked you know? Like we were _compatible._"

He didn't know what to answer, and even if he didn't care what she thought of him, he couldn't think of anything interesting that he actually did at the moment. "Oh, I don't know. I don't really do anything."

And then he realized that _that _was actually probably the worst answer he could provide her.

"Geez, Zuko, you're so boring," he remembered Mai saying—and on a date that _she _had organized. It was no wonder why Mai hadn't ever called him back again for a second date.

Man, he hoped that would _not _happen during his date with Katara.

"Oh I'm sure someone like you does something besides schoolwork," Katara said.

Zuko wasn't sure if that was a compliment.

He lamely answered, "Mrgh…I don't know; I can't think of anything."

"I'm sure there's something," she insisted. "I mean, what do you do on the weekends?"

"I don't know…grocery shopping?"

"Don't be silly," she laughed. "Everyone does that."

He shifted in his seat. "Well sometimes my band gets together."

"You're in a band? What do you play?"

"Bass."

"That's pretty awesome."

"Er…I guess so," he replied. "We're nothing big or crazy. I mean we made like one or two crappy songs, but everyone's sorta busy and uncommitted."

"Well that's still something. You play in a band…what else?"

"Um…I do MMA a few times a week."

"MMA?"

"Mixed martial arts."

"Oh," she said, and he tried to analyze what kind of an 'oh' it was. Was that an impressed 'oh' or a that's-so-typical 'oh'?

"So I guess that's what I do—I play in a band and I do martial arts...and I also don't keep an eye on the gas meter," he added the last phrase with a growl, feeling the engine of his car slow down into a sputter.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

He sighed. "I am so sorry," he apologized. "I'm out of gas."

"Oh," and he was sure that that was a disappointed 'oh.' "Well what do we do?"

While his car was still rolling, he turned right looking for the first available curb. His head was able to think clearly. Aw man, just one thing after the other on one of the most important days of his life, huh? He sighed deeply once again.

"I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot," he repeated.

"Well there should be a gas station nearby, right?"

"Hopefully," he replied. Knowing his luck this night, it would probably be more than five or ten minutes away. He looked in the rearview mirror briefly. "Can you do me a quick favor and take the wheel for me after I get out?"

She affirmed, clicking out of her seat belt.

"Once I stop to make a reverse, I'm not going to be able to accelerate again…and I need to parallel park so that I don't block off the road," he explained, as he used the last of his car's momentum to cut diagonally into a parking spot. Stepping out of his car, he went over to the front and placed both hands towards the bumper. Katara was quick to take the wheel and thereafter steered it perfectly.

She was so beautiful, and amazing, and smart already. And she also knew how to drive.

He was almost aroused.

"Um…so you want to come with me? To find a gas station?" he asked, opening the driver side door.

"Sure," she agreed, stepping out. He wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but either way, he didn't want her telling her friends that he had left her alone while on a date—while getting gas because he had been stupid enough to not check his gas tank.

Oh what a night.

**divider**

"Hey, um…you don't happen to have any more cash on you, do you?" Zuko asked, realizing that he'd actually have to pay for the gas and other supplies, which he wasn't able to do with an empty wallet.

"I have a credit card," she replied. "I can pay for everything."

His mouth twisted in a combination of gratefulness and awkwardness. "Thanks so much—sorry about all this inconvenience."

"It's totally fine."

That must have been the fortieth time that she had said that within the past two hours.

Once their purchase was complete, they started back towards Zuko's car.

"So…was that your first time running out of gas?" she asked him.

Looking down, he replied, "Actually, yes."

"That's pretty awesome that you know exactly what to do and what to get—I mean, I would have probably just gotten gas and not thought about actually getting the gas into the tank," she said.

He wasn't sure if this was another way of saying 'I don't believe you' in girl language.

"Well…you never know what's going to happen to you, so you read up on that stuff, I guess."

Her eyes fell to the sidewalk and their conversation lapsed into silence until they reached his car.

Kneeling down and placing the gas down on the sidewalk, Zuko got the gas transfer ready while she stood around him to watch what he was doing.

"Do you need any help?" she asked, and he denied any, siphoning the gas into the tank. She cocked her head, leaning over him. He didn't bother to turn his head, knowing that her legs were _right _there. Katara stepped forward one, looking more closely at what he was doing—what kind of girl was interested in cars? He was completely shocked—and the hem of her dress tickled his cheek.

Aw shit, man. Zuko inhaled sharply and focused on what he was doing. _I don't care. I am a stone. I am a calm stone. I am a calm emotionless stone. I am a calm asexual emotion—_

"Crap!" he exclaimed, the tube falling out of place and the gasoline splurging over her dress and shoes. He pulled the tube away quickly, replacing it back to the funnel at the car and cursed, "Oh shit, shit, shit, I'm so sorry!"

She stepped back and tried to see the damage to her clothing under the streetlights, flipping her dress back and forth with her hand. "Um, it's not too bad."

"Yeah but that smell is never going to go away," he worriedly replied. "Oh geez, I'm so sorry."

"It's not a big deal—I'm sure a few washes will get it off," she said, trying to make him feel better. "Look, it's already drying up—and if the smell doesn't go away, then I'll just throw this away. I didn't really like this dress to begin with, I just—"

He didn't accept her forgiveness. "This is unacceptable," he told her. "This is all completely my fault."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Katara said. "Just finish up the gas."

Not daring to look back at her, he mentally beat himself up while doing so.

The two of them got back into his car when he was done. He didn't start up the car, sighing and placing his face into his hand.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked her, a second later.

She didn't say anything for a moment, during which he killed himself three times.

"We're really close that park you wanted to show me," she replied, touching his arm. "Let's do what you planned."

He looked over at her, his eyes unbelieving. "Really?"

She smiled. "Yeah—otherwise this all wouldn't have been worth it, right?"

Not knowing how to react, he turned the key to ignition and then answered, "Alright then."

"Let's just keep the windows open—the smell of gas is really getting to me," she added, with a brief laugh.

**divider**

"Here, this way," he directed. She was heading in the wrong direction and to prevent her from stepping into dirt that she didn't need to cross, he quickly took her forearm in his right hand and gently pulled her the right way, and she bumped into him softly.

At least it was dark and the lights around the park not really luminescent, because otherwise she would have definitely noticed the blush that had crept up over his face when his hand later fell into her hand. She entangled her fingers around his, letting him guide her the remainder of the walk, and he could barely keep his heart from bursting.

He still couldn't believe that she was still giving him a chance.

Katara suddenly gasped when one of the bushes by them rustled, and Zuko tugged her backwards behind him immediately.

"'Sup Zuko?"

Said teenager breathed a sigh of relief. "Jet. What are you up to?"

"Bro, I haven't seen you in forever!" the scruffy haired teenager exclaimed, pulling Zuko into a manly hug, followed by an audible thump against the back. "How are you doing?"

"Awesome, and you?" And though Zuko's voice sounded genuinely eager to talk to the friend that he hadn't seen in about two years—they had gone met in middle school and ended up going to different high schools—he was also aware of his date behind him that was undoubtedly left out of conversation.

This, he knew, wasn't good. Argh, nothing was going well after all tonight!

"Pretty chill; been sticking with the homies," replied Jet, motioning to Smellerbee and Longshot.

"Cool," Zuko commented, hoping that this would conclude their conversation.

"Yeah, how's your high school?"

"Just like any other typical high school; you know how it is."

"Whatcha doing out here so late? Who's the chick?"

Of all times to see Jet again. "This is Katara," he introduced, stepping backward so that his body wasn't completely blocking her from their sight. "Katara, this is—"

"I am Jet, one of Zuko's good friends," Jet interrupted, taking Katara's hand daintily and kissing her knuckles. "This is Smellerbee and Longshot."

A sudden pang of jealousy erupted in Zuko. What the fuck did Jet think he was doing?

"Nice to meet you," she replied, her voice fluterring.

_The player!_, and Zuko couldn't help the subtle snarl that grew over his lips.

"Interested in some 420, Zuko? It's all we're doing out here," Jet offered with a shrug, not dropping Katara's hand. Then Jet's eyes flickered back to Katara's. "You're invited too."

"I don't smoke," he replied quickly, and he reached over for Katara's free hand. "And we'll be best on our way."

Jet was just pissing him off tonight—he didn't want Katara to get the idea that he was a stoner! Because he wasn't! And Jet had totally turned his charm level on—how irritating.

Giving the two of them a wink, Jet released Katara's hand gently and smugly remarked. "Ah, I see. Well we'll be sure to be giving you guys some _alone _time."

An angry blush rose into Zuko's cheek, and he didn't even bother to look at Katara's face for her reaction. "I'll see you around," he said, and bid the three a goodbye before striding off, Katara's hand protectively within his.

When they were well out of hearing range from the stoners, Zuko turned to Katara. "Sorry about that. I just…my friends, you know." He didn't even know how to excuse himself anymore.

"It was fun to meet some of your friends," she said, but rather more dryly than he would have liked.

"I-I haven't seen them in a while," he explained, hoping that she'd get the idea that he wasn't _that _type of a person like Jet was.

"Well lucky you ran into them, then."

"I guess," he agreed, his mouth twisted.

And suddenly she gasped. "Oh is that the fountain that you were talking about? It's so beautiful!"

Ah one thing was right in the world.

"Yeah," and he admired the lighted fountain himself.

It was at the center of Republic City Park, lights shimmering from the spouts, making the water seem as though it was red, purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue, the colors changing every ten to fifteen seconds in a graceful blend of hues. The water chuckled and hummed, sang and harmonized, tickling the sweet moonlight-saturated night into a giggle.

"Wow…" she sighed, the lights flashing over her amazed face. "This is just amazing…thanks so much for taking me here!"

He couldn't help but smile—probably the one thing that had gone well this entire night; free public landmarks seemed to never let him down.

"Ooh!" Katara exclaimed, her hand rubbing her eye. "That's some violent fountain, huh? Splashing water all over the place?"

What?

Zuko put his hand out in front of him, feeling a few drops of water landing on his open palm. Curious, he stepped closer to the fountain—he never remembered the water splashing out of the basin—the fountain was too big and contained for that. Unless—

Looking at the sky with a scowl, he spotted the culprit for the stray droplets.

"Actually, it's raining," he said, with great dismay, as the pouring accelerated. "There's a gazebo nearby; let's get some shelter while it passes."

He had forgotten just how far that was though, and the two of them were soon running against sheets of cold daggers of rain, splashing mud over their shoes, the shoulders and backs of their legs absorbing the chilly water. Zuko cursed under his breath, keeping a hand firmly around Katara's wrist until they reached the gazebo.

"God," he sighed with frustration.

He saw Katara in the light of the moon. When he picked her up, she had been dressed perfectly, and now her beautiful dark hair was frazzled, her soft cheeks irritated by the dirt and rain, delicate shirt sticking uncomfortably to her goose-bumped skin, her colorful print dress soaked in the stench of gasoline and mud, her feet utterly drenched in puddle water.

And she was still managing to smile up at him, her lips forgiving and her cerulean eyes still sparkling.

"I'm so sorry. This is all completely my fault," he finally admitted. "I…this was just a horrible date—I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's totally fine," she said, stepping over to comfort him. "I mean, accidents always happen—"

"No, this is just unacceptable! All of it!" Zuko flailed his hands up. "I completely screwed up everything for you."

"No you didn't. And it's fine—it's not that big of a deal."

"Don't be nice," he retorted, continuing to scold himself. "This was all a total disaster! And come to think of it, the damn car seats are probably wet now because I stupidly left the windows a crack open and now you'll probably have to ride home completely soaked and then—"

"Zuko," she said, and her one word calmed him.

He looked at her face, and her lips parted to continue.

"To be honest, this was a terrible date."

He sucked in a breath.

"For you at least," she finished, and his eyes met hers in surprise.

She smiled, explaining, "I mean, from the beginning, I said yes to come on this date with you because I really like you. I thought this was really fun, and even though maybe things didn't work on the way you wanted it to, I still got to spend time with you. And to me, that's all that really matters."

Speechless, he continued to stare at her.

"I'm definitely never going to forget this—it's been one special night with you," she admitted, and if the light was better, he would have seen the flush that painted her cheeks.

And then she tiptoed up on her rain-soaked feet and kissed him.

"So stop worrying and apologizing so much!" she concluded, turning her face away bashfully as her warmth lifted from his lips.

A smile formed over his face before he took her shoulders and returned her kiss.

Pulling away slowly, her nose brushing against his face, she whispered, "Come, let's dance while the rain is still out."

When they were back at their homes, returning drenched and cold to the bone, their siblings asked them about their date that night, and the two of them briskly answered, "It went terribly," with a grin touching their lips.

* * *

**It sorta touches on the theme—they were quite whimsical in what they were doing and made the best out of their "bad date" situation. And if that didn't really cut it, then fuck, it's just a Zutara one-shot.**

**I know they technically can't be in the same grade because they're two years apart, but I hope that for the sake of the story, you pretended, lol. Anyway, let me know what you guys thought of this one—t'was a bit lighter than the previous ones before it!**

**thir13enth**


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